70 years ago Friday, the eyes of the world were on Robert Gates

Published: Thursday, June 5, 2014 at 05:28 PM.

Seventy years ago, Capt. Robert Gates, then a young Army Air Corps pilot, was in Europe waiting to take off on the most ambitious air assault in United States military history.

The energy was high. The airmen in his unit had known the invasion of Normandy was coming for days, they just didn’t know when.

On June 6, 1944, future president Dwight D. Eisenhower sent word — “The eyes of the world are upon you” — and D-Day was in motion.
In his C-47 transport plane, Gates took off into the skies over France

“It was a great adventure,” the 95-year-old said earlier this week while resting in his Fort Walton Beach home where he is under hospice care.

When asked if he felt proud of his involvement in the invasion so many years ago, he piped up in a commanding tone: “Absolutely.”

Over 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft were involved in the D-Day mission. The airborne assault led the way, helping to clear the area while troops stormed the beach from the sea.

The air assault was pivotal to the invasion, according to Gates’ unit’s battle honors.

He and his men “unflinchingly discharged” their paratroopers despite facing a barrage of antiaircraft fire. They released their gliders with “extreme accuracy” and at “dangerously low altitudes and minimal airspeeds.”

Of the 98 gliders Gates‘ unit dropped, all but three were hit, he recalled. Most were able to meet their objective, though.

More than 9,000 allied troops were killed or wounded on D-Day. Gates keeps a thick scrapbook filled with photos of friends and fellow airmen who died that day or on others during the war.

Though the cost of the invasion was high, by day’s end, more than 100,000 allied soldiers had begun the march across Europe that led to Hitler’s defeat.

Gates’ experience during the invasion was a defining point in his life, according to his daughter Kathleen Gates Ard, who was by his bedside earlier this week.

He went on to fly in Korea and Vietnam and to serve as a special operations wing commander at Hurlburt Field, but World War II remained a large part of his history.

In years since, he has taken four of his five children to walk the beaches of Normandy. Ard, now 43, remembers climbing down in the craters that line the ground, pock marks left behind from the D-Day bombings.

She remembers the trip fondly.

“Walking down the streets of France, Dad had his World War II hat on and we couldn’t really go anywhere without people coming up and kissing him and crying and thanking him for his role,” she said. “He’s a very brave man who loves God, his country and his family. He would do it all over again.”

Seventy years ago, Capt. Robert Gates, then a young Army Air Corps pilot, was in Europe waiting to take off on the most ambitious air assault in United States military history.

The energy was high. The airmen in his unit had known the invasion of Normandy was coming for days, they just didn’t know when.

On June 6, 1944, future president Dwight D. Eisenhower sent word — “The eyes of the world are upon you” — and D-Day was in motion.
In his C-47 transport plane, Gates took off into the skies over France

“It was a great adventure,” the 95-year-old said earlier this week while resting in his Fort Walton Beach home where he is under hospice care.

When asked if he felt proud of his involvement in the invasion so many years ago, he piped up in a commanding tone: “Absolutely.”

Over 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft were involved in the D-Day mission. The airborne assault led the way, helping to clear the area while troops stormed the beach from the sea.

The air assault was pivotal to the invasion, according to Gates’ unit’s battle honors.

He and his men “unflinchingly discharged” their paratroopers despite facing a barrage of antiaircraft fire. They released their gliders with “extreme accuracy” and at “dangerously low altitudes and minimal airspeeds.”

Of the 98 gliders Gates‘ unit dropped, all but three were hit, he recalled. Most were able to meet their objective, though.

More than 9,000 allied troops were killed or wounded on D-Day. Gates keeps a thick scrapbook filled with photos of friends and fellow airmen who died that day or on others during the war.

Though the cost of the invasion was high, by day’s end, more than 100,000 allied soldiers had begun the march across Europe that led to Hitler’s defeat.

Gates’ experience during the invasion was a defining point in his life, according to his daughter Kathleen Gates Ard, who was by his bedside earlier this week.

He went on to fly in Korea and Vietnam and to serve as a special operations wing commander at Hurlburt Field, but World War II remained a large part of his history.

In years since, he has taken four of his five children to walk the beaches of Normandy. Ard, now 43, remembers climbing down in the craters that line the ground, pock marks left behind from the D-Day bombings.

She remembers the trip fondly.

“Walking down the streets of France, Dad had his World War II hat on and we couldn’t really go anywhere without people coming up and kissing him and crying and thanking him for his role,” she said. “He’s a very brave man who loves God, his country and his family. He would do it all over again.”